Saturday, March 21, 2009

Extraordinary Costs to Repair Maggie Valley Landslide

No one is certain but authorities guess that on or around January 7, 2009 rain caused a massive portion of a Maggie Valley mountain lot to collapse and slide down its steep slope. The corner of the Bear Creek Road residence is now sitting 5 feet from open space. Costs for a landslide stability-assessment report, $10,000; remediation expense, $400,000. The property owners, Walter and Joyce Moody, have been informed that they are responsible for stabilizing the slope.

The Bear Creek Road slope failure was reported in the March 13, 2009 article, "Landslide threatens Maggie Valley home," and is part of the Asheville Citizen-Times “Homes in harm’s way” landslide-awareness initiative.

Walter Moody is publicizing Western North Carolina's landslide real estate risks. This is what he had to say about the construction of his Maggie Valley mountain retirement home:

Everything was done according to code. In fact, it exceeded code in many areas. Building inspectors signed off on everything, confirming that it met code. (Parts of the foundation) are anchored in bedrock. So even if the front edge of the home failed, the back portion that’s on rock would still stand. Also, the soil in front of the home doesn’t show the same degree of softness, and surveyors have looked for cracks and found none ... Is the house safe? Yes. Is it sellable? Not with the slide.

When we built this house we put our savings into it. But today, what we know is that it wouldn't have made any difference if I put my money in the stock market or I put it into this house because I am going to wind up with basically the same thing — and that's nothing.Am I blaming this on anybody? No. But I have a concern. I have a concern we are going to see more of this. And there is nothing that you or I can do to stop it until it occurs.

Mr. Moody foresees a bleak financial future for many other property owners and his words are true. There is nothing that can be done to prevent landslides from wrecking and destroying homes: All Western North Carolina mountain real estate is designated landslide-hazardous.

For additional information concerning the Moody landslide please read the following articles: